Friday 14 November 2008

China's Arrested Democrat


Chinese authorities have arrested the founder of the New Democracy Party (New People's Party) Guo Quan in Nanjing on charges of subversion of state power. He has been arrested several times in the past since founding the party last year but the charge of subversion is one the Chinese authorities often use to imprisons dissidents for years.

He is a well known blogger, though now removed, and he is accused of being 'too radical' he radicalness in recent days has been for blogging about the need for democratic change in the world's most populous nation. He had also threatened to sue Google and Yahoo in February of this year after the US companies in compliance with Chinese Government requests removed his name from searches on their Chinese language search engines. In his own words he said Google have "become a servile Pekinese dog wagging its tail at the heels of the Chinese communists".

In February when he announced his legal actions Guo said:

"Through this I hope that the world will become more concerned to resolve human
rights issues in China. The freedom of the Internet should be realised all over
the world."

Sadly his fight for human rights in China have led to him being denied his own human rights of liberty, freedom of thought, right to question and have a say in his own affairs. It is nineteen and a half years on from the events of Tiannamen Square and the Chinese authorities have moved nowhere politically from that day, even though promises were made to enable them to host this years Olympics. They still seek to control political process by coercion rather than strength of debate.

2 comments:

  1. There is no meaning of 42. It is the answer. Do not ask what 42 means, 42 is 42.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry Vigil it is a little UK-centric satire regarding our own civil liberties here.

    You are right, but what is the question?

    ReplyDelete